PROCEEDINGS OF KERALA ENVIRONMENT CONGRESS 2015 NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 6th to 8th May, 2015 at Mammen Mappila Town Hall, Kottayam Organised by CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Supported by Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment Proceedings of the Kerala Environment Congress - 2015 Editors Dr Vinod T R Dr T Sabu Dr Babu Ambat Published by Centre for Environment and Development Thozhuvancode, Vattiyoorkavu Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India-695013 Design & Pre-press Godfrey’s Graphics Sasthamangalam, Thiruvananthapuram Cover Photo Credits Front : Rebloggy.com Back : Baiju Nellanad Printed at Newmulti Offset, Thiruvananthapuram FOREWORD Climate change has been simultaneously at the periphery and centre of critical global and national decision making due to the urgency of its nature with the major challenge of a demand for decelerating economic growth. The impacts of climate change for India are large with extreme weather conditions, changing rainfall patterns, droughts, groundwater crisis, glacier melts, sea level rise posing challenges to agriculture and food security, energy security, water security and public health. Climate change is the significant change or shift in the long term weather patterns due to natural or anthropogenic factors. The warming trend over large areas of earth surface since the beginning of 20th century has brought curiosity and attention of researchers, planners and policy makers around the world. This increase in temperature and its continuing trend along with the associated impacts on natural resources have become a serious concern of the global community irrespective of developed, developing and under developed countries. The potential threats posed by climate change have been recognized by policy makers since at least the year 1988 when the UN General Assembly endorsed the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the request of its member countries. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) treaty was negotiated at the Earth Summit held at Rio de Janeiro in the year 1992. The treaty recognised that anthropogenic activities are behind climate change and that greenhouse gas emissions need to be checked to reduce its impact. This treaty was ratified and became effective since 1994. In 1997 came the Kyoto Protocol, which was a legally binding agreement. In the year 2010, in the Cancun Agreements, it was decided that the emissions should be curtailed to the pre-industrialisation levels. Hence it is of utmost importance to mainstream the climate change mitigation and adaptation into the overall development plans of the Country since India is also facing a number of issues as a fall out of climate change. The State of Kerala with its long narrow coastal belt and the vast stretch of hilly terrain and forests in the Western Ghats region is also facing the impacts of climate change in the form of floods, draughts, loss of biodiversity and natural resources, impact on health, etc. It is in this context that the Kerala Environment Congress organised by Centre for Environment and Development on the focal theme “Climate Change and Sustainable Development” assumes great importance. The KEC seeks to spearhead the message of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategy on different development sectors such as agriculture and food security, ecology and environment, ecosystems and biodiversity, urban planning, forestry, health, education, policy on coastal zone management, energy, water, etc. The presentations and panel discussions during the event and the papers published in this Proceedings will go a long way to bring into focus the need for sustainability and awareness generation at every step by reminding the audience and readers of the impacts noticed and the probable future scenario if warnings are not heeded. I hope that, like the earlier Congresses, this year too, this collection of research papers and articles will inspire scientists, academicians, policy makers, environmentalists, and the enlightened citizens contribute their might to the climate change mitigation and adaptation-the most important issue of the 21st century. Dr. P. Rajendran Vice-Chancellor Kerala Agricultural University Vellanikkara , Thrissur KERALA ENVIRONMENT CONGRESS 2015 The Centre for Environment and Development(CED) initiated the Kerala Environment Congress (KEC) in 2005 and has completed ten Congresses till date. The KEC was started with the objective of bringing together Scientists and Technologists,Policy Planners, Decision Makers, Development Managers and Students for sharing of knowledge, expertise and experience in subjects of high relevance to the sustainable development of the country. All the ten Congresses were organized on different focal themes which have high relevance in the environment conservation and management as well as the development of the society. The different sectoral areas covered under these KECs focused on the importance of development of the country without compromising the environmental aspects. At the outset, CED takes this opportunity to place our heartfelt gratitude to all the distinguished personalities, important institutions, organizations and government agencies for supporting us these years to organize the Kerala Environment Congress successfully. CED, an autonomous research, training and consultancy organisation established in 1993 at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala is now expanded its coverage into twelve states in the country and has wide network and collaboration with many state, national and international agencies. CED has been focusing both on environment and development related sectors bringing complementarities, leading to sustainable development. CED is working with 6 Program Areas viz., (i) Natural Resources and Environment Management (ii) Water, Sanitation and Health (iii) Climate Change and Energy Studies (iv) Urban and Rural Studies (v) Culture and Heritage Studies and (vi) Information and Knowledge Management. CED is the Centre of Excellence of Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India on Solid Waste and Waste Water Management; National Key Resource Centre on Water and Sanitation of Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India and Regional Resource Agency of Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. CED is recognized as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (SIRO) by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India. CED has its Eastern Regional Centre at Bhubaneswar, Odisha and Regional Centre at Hyderabad. The Centre has its activities spread over the states of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, WestBengal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Pondicherry, Jammu Kashmir apart from Kerala. CED is providing technical support to many local self government institutions in the country for Water Supply Engineering, Solid Waste Management, Wastewater Management, Preparation of GIS based Maps, Biodiversity Conservation, Urban Development, Energy and Environment Auditing, etc. CED has established Urban Reforms Cells in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states to provide support in urban development, urban policy formulation and urban poverty alleviation programs. CED initiated the Kerala Environment Congress 2015 Kottayam Odisha Environment Congress jointly with Human Development Foundation and Regional Museum of Natural History in 2010 and has completed five Congresses. During the last 22 years, CED has completed nearly 100 research, consultancy and training projects supported by different national and international agencies like the World Bank, UNDP, JICA, ADB, RNE, IDRC, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment, Local Self Government Department, Kerala, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Odisha, Department of Municipal Administration and Urban Development, Telangana, Department of Municipal Administration and Urban Development, Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board and many other agencies. The first Kerala Environment Congress was organised in 2005 at Kochi with the focal theme ‘Coastal and Marine Environment’ . The second Congress was held at Kozhikode in 2006 with the focal theme ‘Forest Resources of Kerala’ and the third KEC was organized in 2007 with ‘Wetlands of Kerala’ as the focal theme. The fourth Congress focused on the theme ‘Environmental Sanitation, Health and Hygiene’ and the first one was held in 2009 with the focal theme ‘Water Resources of Kerala’. The sixth, seventh and eighth Congresses were held in 2010, 2011 and 2012 with the focal themes ‘Solid and Liquid Waste Management’ , Energy and Environment and Agriculture and Environment respectively. The nineth Congress was held at Thiruvananthapuram with the focal theme “Culture, Heritage and Environment”.The last KEC was organized at Kochi with the focal theme “Water and Energy Security- Issues, Challenges and Potentials” which was inaugurated by Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Hon’ble Former President of India. All the ten Congresses were well received by the researchers, academicians, research students and policy-decision makers. KEC has its uniqueness that it targets not only researchers and academic people, but also the policy-decision makers which helps to the translation